Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This
by Julchen M. Liddell
Summary: "...So hush you little ones, have no fear; the Man in the Moon, he is the engineer." Starting from childhood and leading up to her adult years, Alice has had her own separate experiences with each of the Guardians.


_ Now you children, run up the stairs,_

_ Put on your nighties and say your prayers..._

* * *

"Lizzie," six-year-old Alice Liddell said to her sister, elbows propped up on the windowsill and green eyes wide as she stared into the night, "there's a boy flying around in the sky."

It was a fairly clear sky in Oxford on that particular December evening. Alice, being the inquisitive little girl she was, loved looking up at the stars whenever she could, and having a father who often taught her constellations didn't hurt. It was past her bedtime, she knew, but how often would she get a chance like this? Her mother usually came up to scold her if she stayed awake too late, but Lizzie had offered to tuck her in, so odds were that Mrs. Liddell trusted her teenaged daughter to make sure her sister got to sleep.

Evidently that trust was misplaced, because Lizzie was also leaning out the window along with Alice and pointing out all the constellations she saw.

"Is there?" Lizzie replied with mild interest, more concerned with Ursa Major than her sister's active imagination. Alice often blurted out non-sequiturs and commented on things that weren't there, that only she could see. It might become a problem when she grew older, but for now Alice was a child and allowed to have illusions of grandeur. "That's new, isn't it. Most you see are quite grounded."

"This one is flying, though." Alice's voice was toned with curiosity, which was a usual occurance. "He looks rather strange, too."

"Besides the fact that he is flying?"

"Yes." The little girl's brow furrowed. "His hair is white, like snow, and what I can see of his face is the same color. He's quite pale."

"You're rather pale yourself, you ought not judge these things," Lizzie teased.

"I know that," Alice said, turning slightly pink. "But he's paler than anyone else I've ever seen. He's wearing all brown, with a cape, and his feet are bare. Lizzie, why do you think that is? It's the middle of winter, where are his shoes?"

"I haven't the faintest," the sixteen-year-old responded cheerfully. "I can't see him, after all."

Alice's frown deepened. Nobody, not Lizzie nor Nanny nor their parents, could see what she could. They said it was all in her imagination, which may have been true most of the time, but on this particular occasion she hadn't _actively _been dreaming of a strange pale boy flying around the sky. She'd been trying to find the North Star.

Upon closer inspection, Alice saw the boy was carrying a long, curved staff, like the shepherds in nativity scenes. He swooped so high he could barely be seen, and dropped down just as quickly to skim over the rooftops of the city. The sky, which had been so clear just a few moments prior, was now dotted with grey clouds and fat snowflakes were slowly drifting down.

He was coming closer. Alice wondered if she should say hello, just to see how he would react, but a swift glance at Lizzie changed her mind. As understanding and accommodating as her sister was toward's Alice's imagination, talking to thin air was likely the limit. But he certainly _looked _solid, and Alice was positive she hadn't thought him up before. She would remember something like that.

The boy rushed by the bedroom window, bringing with him a strong gust of wind. Lizzie gasped at the sudden frigid gale and reeled backwards, catching Alice's elbow and pulling her back as well.

"Well," she said, sweeping a few strands of runaway hair back into place, "I suppose the stargazing will have to be over for tonight, on account of the weather. The snow came out of nowhere, didn't it?"

"Mmm," Alice hummed, her mind elsewhere.

"Come on then, bed time." Lizzie took her hand and led her away from the window. "Mother'll have both our heads if she comes up and finds you still awake."

Alice whined. "She won't come up, please just a few more minutes?" She unsuccessfuly tried to stifle a huge yawn behind her hand.

Lizzie shook her head, scooped the tiny girl up in her arms, and deposited her onto the bed.

Further protests proved fruitless. Lizzie tucked her sister in and moved to leave the room, leaving the door open just a crack and a lit lantern on the hall table outside. Dinah the cat snuggled up to Alice, wedged in the crook of her elbow between her arm and body. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, and when she did she dreamt of her Wonderland covered in snow and ice, with a mysterious white-haired boy laughing faintly overhead.

* * *

**A/N:**

** So I was replaying Alice: Madness Returns the other day and got inspired by the poem you hear once or twice through out the game:**

_** The Sandman's coming with his train of cars, with moonbeam windows and wheels of stars. So hush you little ones, have no fear; the Man in the Moon is the engineer.**_

**Apparenly it's from a song called **_**Hush! Here Comes the Dream Man**_**. And I thought, well gosh, that would be perfect for an RotG/Alice crossover. So I worked this out in my mind, and now here this is. There's going to be a chapter for each Guardian and Pitch, one for MiM, and one for Alice herself. (As you can probably tell from the title and content, this first chapter was Jack.) Some will be longer than others, but it's more a series of connecting oneshots, not a full-blown multichapter story with a huge plot and things like that. **

** Well, in any case, thank you for reading! Please feel free to drop a review.**


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